Separate US probe planned into NATO airstrike

Pakistan

Separate US probe planned into NATO airstrike

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The US Central Command will conduct its own investigation into NATO's airstrikes in Pakistan.

28 November,2011 07:23 am

The US plans its own investigation into NATOs deadly airstrikes in Pakistan, while two senior lawmakers called for a harder line after Islamabad closed parts of its border to supply convoys into Afghanistan and demanded the US vacate a drone base.Gen. James Mattis, head of US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region, was expected by Monday to name an investigating officer to examine the incident, according to a defense official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.NATO has said it is conducting an investigation to determine the details of the Saturday airstrikes. The alliance has not commented on Pakistani claims the attacks killed 24 soldiers, but it has not questioned them.A key question to be examined by the US is who approved the airstrikes and why.Afghan officials say their soldiers called for help after being fired upon from the direction of Pakistani border posts.Pakistani authorities claim the airstrikes were unprovoked.NATO officials previously have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them.The incident threatens to send US-Pakistani relations to an all-time low.US officials were already reeling in the wake of the raid in May on Osama bin Ladens hideout in a Pakistani garrison town. The Pakistan government was outraged it hadnt been told about the operation beforehand, and US secrecy surrounding the operation underscored a deep mistrust between the two allies.Frustration is particularly acute among members of Congress, who amid an economic recession are being asked to support billions in military and civilian aid for Pakistan.